You start in The Enchanted Countryside, where you wander around and face a relentless barrage of Random Encounters. You can also seek out encounters in the castles, huts, trees, swamps and grass. Combat is turn-based. You gather gold and items from the monsters. You can also find items in one of the castles, the churches and the temples. Strength recovers with time, or you can heal yourself quickly in the churches. Each item does something: some help you, some hurt you. When you think you have enough gold and items, you need to get past the bridge guard to the Oppressed Village. The easiest way is with an ID paper, found in a glowing castle.

Once you're in the village, you'll see three shops: the Trade Shop, the Magic Shop and the Hospital. Sell off your items from the countryside, and buy the items you'll need to take on the dragon. You'll also see three warriors, who you can hire to help you fight the dragon. And finally, you'll see the entrance to the Dragon's Cave. Enter whenever you think you're ready.

The cave is a vertically scrolling corridor filled with traps and the bones of previous adventurers. Use the spells you bought from the Magic Shop to reveal the invisible traps, and dodge your way through the poison darts bouncing back and forth. If you get hurt, you can Heal Thyself with medicines from the Hospital. Use a chain or rope from the Trade Shop to lower yourself down into the dragon's pit.

The dragon is a huge sprite in the center of the screen: you're at the bottom, and the amulet is at the top, behind a force field. The dragon will start advancing towards you. Theoretically, you can use an Unlock spell from the Magic Shop to open the force field: as soon as you touch the amulet, you've won, even if the dragon is still alive. But in practice, there's no way you can get past the dragon, so you have to fight him. Release your warriors, use Stun and Blast spells, shoot him with a bow and arrow, and if he reaches you, defend yourself with Protect spells and slash away.

The game actually doesn't end if you kill the dragon, you still have to touch the amulet. Once you do, the screen flashes and the song "Rule, Britannia!" plays.

Tropes used in Dragonstomper include:

Action Bar: The bottom of the screen has a text window that tells you your options and warns you of approaching monsters. When something happens, it turns into a menu.

Mook Chivalry: If you get into a battle with multiple monsters, you combat them one at a time.

Musical Gameplay: Including the theme from Dragnet when a monster attacks, Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor ("The Funeral March") when you kill a monster, "We're In The Money" if you find gold, "Rule, Britannia!" when you win, and "Taps" if you die.